This disclosure relates to computer simulation tools.
A product designer, such as a designer of electrical component systems, typically must first consider which parts to use within a product being designed. Before selecting a part, the designer must hunt through specification sheets published by vendors that list parts which may fulfill the designer""s needs in the product being designed. Manufacturers"" data sheets typically list part information under a set of specific or limited range of conditions. To find out the relevant parameters for a set of conditions not listed, the designer must order sample parts or an evaluation board and perform time-consuming, detailed measurements. The designer may also need to talk with one or more vendors. Thereafter, the designer typically must order samples from one or more vendors or manufacturers and patiently wait to receive them. Thereafter, the designer must evaluate each part, which can be a lengthy process involving building circuits, and then testing and debugging the circuits. Often, the designer must also talk to application engineers and sales people with respect to the manufacturers and vendors to identify and select the best part for the product being designed.
In general, each step in the product design process is long, and the part selection process exacerbates this length of time. Manufacturers and vendors wish to disseminate information regarding new parts, which in the past typically involved publishing data sheets and books regarding each electrical device and its characteristics. Thereafter, manufacturers published and distributed computer readable media with electronically stored, edited or complete versions of the data sheets, such as a CD-ROM or magnetic disks. Currently, many manufacturers and vendors electronically publish such information over the Internet.
The Internet comprises a vast number of computers and computer networks interconnected through communication channels. The Internet is used for a variety of reasons, including electronic commerce, exchanging information such as electronic mail, retrieving information and doing research, and the like. Many standards have been established for exchanging information over the Internet, such as electronic mail, Gopher, and the World Wide Web (xe2x80x9cWWWxe2x80x9d). The WWW service allows a server computer system (i.e., web server or web site) to send graphical web pages of information to a remote client computer system. The remote client computer system can then display the web pages. Each resource (e.g., computer or web page) of the WWW is uniquely identifiable by a Uniform Resource Locator (xe2x80x9cURLxe2x80x9d). To view a specific web page, a client computer system specifies the URL for that web page in a request (e.g., a HyperText Transfer Protocol (xe2x80x9cHTTPxe2x80x9d) request). The request is forwarded to the web server that supports that web page. When that web server receives the request, it sends the requested web page to the client computer system. When the client computer system receives that web page, it typically displays the web page using a browser. A browser is typically a special-purpose application program for requesting and displaying web pages.
Currently, web pages are often defined using HyperText Markup Language (xe2x80x9cHTMLxe2x80x9d). HTML provides a standard set of tags that define how a web page is to be displayed. When a user makes a request to the browser to display a web page, the browser sends the request to the server computer system to transfer to the client computer system an HTML document that defines the web page. When the requested HTML document is received by the client computer system, the browser displays the web page as defined by the HTML document. The HTML document contains various tags that control the display of text, graphics, controls, and other features. The HTML document may contain URLs of other web pages available on that server computer system or on other server computer systems.
New protocols exist, such as Extensible Mark-up Language (xe2x80x9cXMLxe2x80x9d) and Wireless Access Protocol (xe2x80x9cWAPxe2x80x9d). XML provides greater flexibility over HTML. WAP provides, among other things, the ability to view web pages over hand-held, wireless devices, such as cell phones and portable computers (e.g. PDAs).
Despite the use of the Internet, manufacturers and vendors of electrical devices and components still have difficulty efficiently and effectively providing information regarding their products to designers, since manufacturers data sheets typically list part information under a set of specific or limited range of conditions. Furthermore, designers have difficulty identifying the best part for a product being designed. Even if a best part is identified, the designer must still create a working circuit for the product, with all selected components, test the circuit, create a design specification, and effectively work through the entire design process. Thus, while information regarding parts may be more easily obtained via the Internet, the product design process is still lengthy and complex.